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The authors investigate the relationship between instant messenger (IM) use and work performance, mediated by interruptions and two key indicators of the stress associated with technology use: overload and complexity.

The authors validate this research model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with data collected through a survey of 416 working professionals.

The data reveal that while IM use contributes minimally to work interruptions and to a greater extent to technological complexity, these two constructs fully mediate the direct influence of IM use at work on technology overload, and meanwhile significantly and directly contribute to work performance.

This research provides theoretical insights into the deployment of IM and its actual impacts in the workplace. To improve the generalisation of the findings, the authors call for more IM-related research in other countries, with more native theories and various methodologies in this domain.

The level of stress generated through IM use is moderate, considering IM is not a significant contributor to work interruptions. Thus, despite the potential negative effects of IM communication, the positive effects of using IM at work prevail. As a result, the technology can be promoted as long as employees, their managers and the organisation as a whole are well prepared. Employees can transfer skills and behaviour from the personal setting to their work environment and thus may find an intrinsic motivation to make better use of the IM technology at work.

The authors argue that this research model is novel for its perspective on evaluating the actual impacts of IM use at work instead of the reasons of using it. The authors conceptualise the process to explain how IM contributes to interruptions and other technostress indicators in the working context, and the impact on performance. Contrary to some prior research, the authors find that overall IM applications do not have a negative impact on work performance, and instead may enhance it.

Established in 1967 by the National Service (Amendment) Bill, National Service (NS) makes it compulsory for most young Singaporean males to enlist in the armed forces, typically for a two-year period. NS comes at a critical juncture in most Singaporean mens’ adolescence, disrupting their lives and isolating them in a foreign environment just as they are beginning to form a firm sense of identity. Recruits are expected to go through grueling training and endure harsh scoldings to prove their worth as both soldiers and men. Through an interview with 14 individuals who have served or are serving NS, it is found that the hegemonic masculinity present in NS relies on norms of strength, leadership, and suppression of emotion. However, its impact on enlistees is inconsistent, and dependent on one’s vocation, personal encounters, and expectations prior to enlisting.

In recent years, negative spokesperson incidents have raised significant concerns in academia and industry. While several studies have addressed celebrity endorser scandals, comprehensive analyses of current knowledge are lacking. Therefore, this study systematically reviewed the related literature to better understand trends and suggest future research directions for advancing this field.

This study employs the theory–context–characteristics–methodology (TCCM) framework to examine 76 articles on celebrity endorser scandals.

Utilizing the TCCM framework, this study presents a comprehensive research framework, revealing that (1) the celebrity endorser scandal effect primarily includes associative learning, attribution of responsibility, and moral reasoning; (2) entertainment celebrities and athletes have received significant research attention; (3) both individual- and relationship-level characteristics serve as crucial moderators, with focal brand and related brand being the primary outcome variables. Additionally, this study outlines enterprise response strategies, encompassing the reformation of existing spokesperson relationships and the establishment of future spokesperson connections; and (4) quantitative approaches dominate the field.

This study integrates and expands existing research on celebrity endorser scandals while proposing future research opportunities to advance the field.

The production of the ‘good life’ or the ‘less bad-life’ (Berlant, 2007, 2011), especially among generations of the Marcos dictatorship and the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue revolutions (henceforth, EDSA revolutions) in the Philippines, is animated by the ‘mobility imperative’ (Farrugia, 2016). The mobility imperative includes processes that encourage or demand mobility (Farrugia, 2016) for individuals and institutions. It figures in various ‘systems of practice’ (Levitt, 1998, 2001) among families in migrant-sending communities, government and corporations that magnify how migration is the ticket to better life (McKay, 2012) or its glorification as a heroic act (de los Reyes, 2013, 2014). Among the generations of the Martial Law and the EDSA revolutions, therefore, the ‘good life’ is hinged upon departure as professionals (e.g. nurses and engineers), workers in elementary occupations (e.g. construction and domestic workers) or mail-order brides or pen pals. Put simply, the good life in these generations is a function of remittances.

This chapter examines how the contemporary generation of young people construct the ‘good life’ in differential and new terms (de los Reyes, 2023; McKay & Brady, 2005) from previous generations. Using interviews and vision boards of left-behind children (15–18 years old), it argues that left-behind children critically appraise the ‘mobility imperative’. The chapter shows that there is a growing imagination of alternatives to the migration-induced good life among left-behind children, and therefore, they gradually refuse the ‘mobility imperative’. For them, the aspired good life consists of potentially being employees or entrepreneurs in their own villages and living a life with their own families (de los Reyes, 2019, 2020).

This study aims to examine the effects of celebrity negative publicity on attitude towards brand, corporation, brand reputation and corporate reputation, both directly and through the moderating effects of social media involvement, brand commitment, identification and attribution (both types). Associative network theory has been used to explain these effects.

A quantitative survey of 550 respondents was carried out in London and surrounding areas. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

The findings suggest that celebrity negative publicity affects brand reputation and corporate reputation. Further, the moderating effects of social media involvement and brand commitment on attitude towards brand and corporation, identification on attitude towards brand, attribution types on attitude towards corporation were not found.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the effects of celebrity negative publicity on attitudes towards brand, attitude towards corporation, brand reputation and corporation reputation, directly, and through the moderating effects of attribution (both types), identification, commitment and social media. Findings from this study will minimise the gap in the literature on the topic and will help managers and policymakers to understand the effects of celebrity negative publicity in detail.

As a little research has been conducted to understand the factors influencing users’ intentions to adopt blockchain-based telemedicine (BBT), it is important to investigate BBT acceptance as incorporation of blockchain technology can solve telemedicine-related issues. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing behavioral intentions (BI) to adopt BBT.

An integrated model comprising the constructs taken from technology–organization–environment framework, technology acceptance model, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and theory of planned behavior based on their relevance to the context and the objectives of the study has been used for this research. A quantitative approach has been used to test the hypotheses, for which the data was collected from 324 respondents through a self-administered questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling has been used to test the hypotheses.

The results of the study show that relative advantage, perceived usefulness, trust and perceived ease of use have a significant impact on BI to adopt BBT, whereas regulatory support, subjective norms and facilitating conditions do not have any significant impact on the same.

As the concept of BCT in Pakistan is at its nascent stage and literature regarding this technology’s adoption is also limited, researchers and scholars can apply it to several other fields in Pakistan. For example, this study can be extended to explore the factors influencing blockchain adoption in areas such as education, logistics, transportation, finances and management. This research only considers the direct effects of constructs on BI to adopt BBT and does not consider any mediation and moderations constructs. Future researchers can also study the influence of mediation and moderation constructs on BI to adopt BCT.

Although studies on the acceptance of telemedicine exist, there is a gap concerning the acceptance of BBT, which the current study helps to bridge. From a practical standpoint, the current study makes a highly valuable contribution toward understanding acceptance factors for BBT projects, leading to help policymakers devise policies to promote telemedicine.

This study aims to investigate the moderating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment in the relationships between antecedents and outcomes of consumer situational scepticism towards luxury brands.

The study used a questionnaire administered through a consumer panel, using established scales. A 2 (fictional, non-fictional) × 2 (low commitment, high commitment) factorial experimental design with four cells was implemented.

The results revealed that values-driven motives were associated with lower consumer situational scepticism, whereas egoistic-driven motives were linked to higher levels of consumer situational scepticism, regardless of the CSR commitment level of the luxury brand. However, the impact of strategic-driven motives and stakeholder-driven motives on consumer situational scepticism was only significant within the low commitment condition. Consumer situational scepticism was found to lead to lower brand resonance and resilience to negative information in both low and high commitment conditions.

This study contributes new knowledge by highlighting the crucial role of motives in shaping consumer perceptions, including scepticism, brand resonance and resilience to negative information, ultimately influencing consumer advocacy. The study further demonstrates that high commitment weakens the relationship between strategic-driven and stakeholder-driven motives and consumer scepticism. Moreover, high commitment also weakens the relationship between scepticism and the key outcomes examined in the study.